Once Upon a Moon Baby
by icefire-lioness
Summary: Written for a challenge on SAYS. Draco tells Scorpius a bedtime story...but can anyone else see the similarities to real-life? Yeah?


_AN: Written for a challenge on SAYS (Eyriana's Movie Soundtrack Challenge - mine was 'I'm Forrest...Forrest Gump' by Alan Silvestri, which is a really __gorgeous instrumental piece. Listen to it! URL/watch?vPEN1ggoGQ&featurerelatedclick/URL )_

_Hope you enjoy it!_

-

He sat on the side of the bed, small legs swinging back, forth, back, forth, so that his heels knocked against the wooden frame. Little pendulum, counting out the seconds until his father would come home to tell him goodnight.

The light by his bed glowed faintly, little elves and fairies backlit by the light that was thrown onto the shade they decorated. He looked to the ceiling, counting under his breath.

One; _he'll be back here by ten_. Two; _if I hold my breath_. Three; _is that the sound of his footsteps in the hall outside?_ Four; _yes, that's him, it is_. Five; _I missed you, please be here_. Six; _door opening, is that him?_ Seven; _grey eyes, blonde hair, crinkly smile. I didn't even need to count to ten. I knew you'd come back. You did promise, after all._

"Hey Scor," Draco whispered softly, and Scorpius grinned.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, pushing himself off the bed and into his father's arms. Draco hugged him close and whispered into his hair.

"Sorry I'm late, Scor. I got caught up at work. How was your day?"

Scorpius grinned again, climbing up into Draco's arms and resting his head against his collar bone.

"Uhm," he said softly, closing his eyes. "Pretty good. I played with Bella today. She's nice. She let me use her blocks to make a castle."

"She's a nice girl," Draco agreed, sitting on the edge of the bed, making it creak softly. "Are you going to play with her again soon?"

Scorpius shrugged, his eyes still closed. "Dunno. I hope so. Her mum said I was a good boy. She gave me biscuits. I like her."

Draco laughed softly, stroking his son's hair gently. "Iris is lovely, isn't she? I'll ask her tomorrow if you and Bella can get together sometime next week, if you want."

Scorpius nodded. "Ok. Can you tell me a story now?"

Draco nodded slowly. "Sure. What do you want a story about?"

The little boy in his arms yawned. "Uhm…a happy thing."

"A happy thing," Draco repeated, shaking his head minutely. This 'fathering' gig was really much more than he had bargained for. He looked down at his son again. Scorpius, who had turned five a month ago, gazed up at him, his mother's blue eyes staring up. Draco's stomach flipped. Merlin but he loved this boy. Scorpius nodded.

"Yup, happy thing. Go," he commanded, and Draco grinned.

"Ok," he said, shifting the boy into a more comfortable position and leaning his back against the headboard.

"Once upon a time," he started, and Scorpius nodded to show his approval. Draco smiled.

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful queen. She had a husband, who probably didn't deserve her, but who she loved anyway, because she was that kind of person."

Scorpius smiled sleepily, and Draco stroked his hair fondly.

"Now, this queen had longed for a child for years and years, but had never been able to have one."

"Why didn't she just use an adlop-adrop-ad…why didn't she get one from someone else?" Scorpius asked, and Draco kissed him on the top of his fair head.

"Because she wanted to have her own baby, with her own husband. It was very difficult. Now, her husband, who loved her very, very much, and wished for her to be happy always, went to the fairy queendom, which could be reached by way of a gateway in a mountain not far from the king and queen's castle. When he got there, he talked to the Fairy Queen and asked her to grant his wife's wish.

"The Fairy Queen, seeing that the man's wife was good and pure, and deserving of anything that she could possibly want for –"

"Are you sure that isn't just what the king thinks? I don't think _Fairy Queens_ think that about normal queens. Aren't they jealous and stuff?"

Draco's mouth twisted into a little smile. "Maybe, sweetie. Maybe that was just what the king thought. Maybe the king had to beg just a little bit."

"Bet he didn't tell his queen that he begged," Scorpius said, laughing, and Draco laughed too.

"No, he probably didn't. However it happened, the Fairy Queen decided to grant the queen's wish. So she went with the king back to the castle, and told the queen she would have a child by the next full moon. Then she kissed the queen on the forehead, and vanished."

"She apparated?" Scorpius asked sleepily, and Draco shook his head, chuckling.

"No, Fairy Queen's have got different magic. She just vanished. In a very fairy way. People were talking about it for years."

"So there were other people there?" Scorpius asked, looking confused.

"Yes," Draco said, wrinkling his nose. "Lots. It happened in the middle of the day, when the queen was receiving visitors and generally being beautiful."

Scorpius sighed exasperatedly. "Dad, now _you_ sound like the king! You're in _love_ with the queen, aren't you?"

"Might be," Draco said, laughing, and Scorpius groaned, snuggling further into his father's arms.

"Well, just don't tell mum. She won't like it."

"Really? I rather thought she might."

Scorpius looked up at Draco, shaking his head seriously. "Honestly, dad. You really shouldn't make jokes like that. They're not very funny."

Draco put his hands up. "Well, I've been told! Alright, let's get back to the story, eh?"

Scorpius narrowed his eyes, and then nodded.

"The king and queen waited anxiously for the full moon, and eventually it arrived, rising over the horizon, and still the queen did not have her child. The king and queen waited and waited, through the long hours of the night, until the moon was at the zenith of the sky."

"What's a zenith?" Scorpius asked sleepily, and Draco kissed him on the forehead.

"The middle," he said, and Scorpius said "oh."

"So the moon was in the middle of the sky,"

"The zenith," Scorpius corrected him, and snuggled further into his father's arms.

"The zenith of the sky, and the king looked out of the window, down at the lake. And he saw a moonbeam which was resting on the ground next the lake, and in the moonbeam was a tiny child."

"He'll get the 'flu," Scorpius said disapprovingly, and Draco laughed.

"So that the baby didn't get the 'flu, the king and queen ran outside quickly and picked him up. The baby looked as though _he_ were made of moonbeams. His skin was pale and smooth, and his hair was bright and fair. He was the most beautiful thing in the entire world, and the king and queen immediately fell in love."

"With each other?" Scorpius asked, confused. Draco smiled.

"No, they were already very much in love. They fell in love with the baby immediately."

"Lucky, happy baby," Scorpius said sleepily. Draco smiled faintly. "I hope he is."

"So what happened next?" Scorpius asked, and Draco told him.

"Well, the king and queen were so in love with their fairy baby that they showed him to everyone and annoyed lots of people with their gushing. But they didn't care, because they had each other and the most beautiful baby in the world. Life was perfect for a long, long time, and it didn't matter if sometimes things went a bit wrong, or the king and queen had little fights about silly things, because they knew that the baby and their love for each other would keep them all together forever.

"And the king, who sometimes thought about his life before the queen and was a bit sad, remembered that he could change his life to make things happy. He didn't need to be his past, and the reason he could remember that was because of his queen and his fairy baby. Life was blissful and magical, and love was everywhere. It was one big fairytale, and it still is. Sometimes the king can't believe his own luck."

Draco looked down at his son, who had finally fallen asleep. He tucked him gently into bed and then stood in the doorway for a long time, watching his moon baby sleep peacefully. Soft footsteps came down the hallway, and arms circled his shoulders. He leant his head back and kissed his wife on the cheek.

"How are you?" he asked quietly, and she smiled, turning him in her arms and kissing him on the nose.

"Pretty good. I heard your story. I see you've still managed to avoid the topic of where babies come from."

Draco grinned as he kissed her.

"Astoria, darling girl, that's your job, I've decided. I've paved the way for you now, that's all, because sooner or later he's going to be wondering if all babies appear in moonbeams."

Astoria laughed softly and pulled him down the hallway to their bedroom.

"Horrid, horrid man. Care to grant your queen another wish, my darling?"

Draco grinned and closed the door softly.

"Nothing would give me greater pleasure, milady."

Astoria looked over her shoulder at him and laughed happily.

"You bet your fine arse it won't. Come here."

-

_AN: Review. Please. Or. I. Will. Have. An. Aneurism._


End file.
